1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a brush chipper. More particularly the present invention relates to an improved feed roller system for feeding brush into the brush chipper.
2. Background Art
Chippers for trees, brush and other woody material, herein referred to collectively as “brush chippers,” having a pair of feed rollers for feeding the wood or brush into the chipper mechanism are well known. One such device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,532, which is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference. As clearly shown in FIG. 3 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,532, a plurality of straight cleats is included around the periphery on the feed rollers for engaging the brush being fed into the chipper.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,549, which is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference, feed rollers are disclosed for a chipper. Straight, axially extending ribs, or cleats, are disclosed as being provided to engage wood material to grip the wood material and advance it toward the drum. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,548 by Bouwers et al. is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference.
Brush chippers of the prior art have been provided a disk-type cutter or chipper, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,532, or a drum-type chipper as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,549.
Various methods for controlling the feed rollers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,011,258, 7,040,558, and 7,044,409, each hereby incorporated in their entirety by reference.
It has been the experience of operators of brush chippers, that movement of limbs or logs being fed into the chipper can cause bucking by either the limb/log or the chipping machine. This bucking is more pronounced in longer material extended over the feed table. The straight cleats or ribs of the prior art have not provided remedy for the observed bucking.
There is, therefore, a need for improved brush feed rollers provided on brush chippers to reduce the chance of bucking as long material is fed into the chipper.